Tag Archives: activism

December 1st marks World AIDS Day and the Westies got it on in style. We marched Bafoussam, the Regional capital, on the backs of motorcycles, driven by moto taxi men trained in HIV prevention and condom use. We tossed those rubbers to the people like they were candy. We also had an information table at one of the busiest intersections in the city, did condom demonstrations, and informed people where to get tested, urging them to get tested, get the results, and accept their status. Go West…we do it in the baf(oussam)! We will continue our collaboration with the moto drivers in their villages, and hopefully this project will be around a long time even after Peace Corps presence.

The small minority of people who are able to stay in relationships for years on end are the ones who realize—or most likely just understand on an intuitive level—that they are shacked up with a fallible human. They are going to have many things about them that are unpleasant.

As I sat and contemplated all of this and the loss of my own father to a tragic suicide when I was only eight years old, I began to comprehend that I was (and still am) guilty of making unfavorable choices, especially